A Very Merry Christmas at Home!

We had a great time celebrating Christmas at home this year. The kids woke bright and early (5 a.m.) and rushed for their toys! I actually tried to keep them upstairs so David could sleep a little longer, but that didn't end up working out. As soon as David was awake, the kids hurried to the fireplace to see if Santa had eaten the cookies they left him. Then they opened their stockings and presents from Santa. Then we all went into the living room where the tree and the rest of the presents were. Our living room doesn't have any furniture yet, so it was pretty cool to have an empty space for the kids to open all their presents. Emma wasn't interested in anything other than the rocking horse Santa brought her, and the Ariel phone that was in her stocking. But after a little coaxing, she finally got the hang of things. Isaac, of course, tore through his presents at lightning speed, and was very excited that he got a Wii and LOTS of Webkinz. Noah enjoyed opening his presents (slowly) and examining each one carefully. He was most excited about the Scooby Doo "Mystery Machine" car that Santa brought him.



After presents, Stefani, Quentin and Haley joined us for blueberry pancakes and sausage cooked by David. It's become a tradition for David to cook a yummy Christmas breakfast. We then spent the day playing with new toys (we all LOVE the Wii!) and enjoying each other's company.

After the kids went to bed, David and I rushed madly to get get the house cleaned up and everything packed for our flight to California the next day. I wasn't sure if we were going to get it all done and be ready in time, but somehow we did it. :) It was a great Christmas and I'm so thankful for my beautiful family and all the blessings we enjoy!

Holiday Party!

All of the classes at Isaac's school had holiday parties last Friday at 2:00 (right before school let out for Christmas break). All the parents are invited to come to the party with their kids. It's nice that David works from home, because I was able to leave Emma and Noah with him (Emma was napping and Noah was watching TV, so he didn't even have to stop working) and go to the party. About half the kids in Isaac's class had parents at the party. I enjoyed it because I haven't had the opportunity to volunteer in the classroom like I did when Isaac was in Kindergarten, so it was fun for me to just be in the classroom and see all the kids. For one of the activities, Isaac made an edible snowman. I snapped a picture before he scarfed it down! :)

At the Park...

The Wednesday before Christmas the kids' Advent Calendar "treat" for the day was that we would "go somewhere fun". I didn't specify where it would be, because I didn't know what the weather would be like. As luck would have it, it was a beautiful day, perfect for playing at the park. So, after I picked up Isaac from school we headed to Frisco Commons (which I think is a really cool park). I brought my camera with me, and formulated in my mind what was going to be my blog entry that day. It was going to be something about how blessed we were to have such great weather, and how much fun the kids had at the park. What I must have forgotten as I planned my perfect little blog entry in my mind, is that half the time (or maybe more) when I take my kids to do something "fun", it doesn't end up being much fun at all! This was one of those times. Let's just say, it ended with all 3 kids crying as I dragged them to the car. I know they did have "some" fun at the park, but why does it always have to end with someone (or everyone) being sad? December can be a REALLY frustrating time. I feel like I spend all month trying so hard to make my kids happy, and NONE of it is appreciated at all! But someday they'll look back and appreciate it, right? Please say they will! I even have pictures to prove that I'm a nice mom. See?

I LOVE this card!

We got this card the other day from David's cousin Kristina. I just think it's the CUTEST idea! I seriously LOVE their snowman! I thought I'd throw it out there as an idea for next year for all you Californians!

Santa (x2)

Last Saturday our neighborhood did a toy drive for Toys For Tots. They collected the toys at one of the model homes. They advertised that Santa would be there during the toy drive. I didn't plan very well, and we were still at Target buying toys when the toy drive was supposed to end (2:00 pm). By the time we got back to the model home, it was about 2:15. The boys and I decided to run in and see if we could still drop off toys. To our surprise, Santa was still there! He invited us to come over and visit with him. Noah was scared, and would only go on Santa's lap if I was with him (that's why I'm in the picture). They took a Polaroid of us on his lap (did you know those still exist?). I wish I had planned better, gotten the kids dressed up, and taken all 3 of them. I could have taken a picture with my camera and it would have been FREE! Oh well, if they do the toy drive again next year, I'll be prepared.



So, since I still didn't have a picture of all my kids with Santa (all dressed cute), we trekked over to the mall today to see Santa. He seriously was the NICEST Santa! When he came back from his break (while we were standing in line), he totally worked the crowd. He walked along next to all the kids in line, waved, and hugged them. He was dressed in his "workshop outfit", and was really cute. The only problem was that we had to wait in line almost an hour to see him! YIKES! By the time we got up there, I completely forgot to make the boys tuck in their shirts. Oh well, they still look cute. Luckily, this time Noah wasn't scared (I think the first visit warmed him up a little). Emma, of course, had the typical 18 month old reaction to Santa, but he talked so sweetly to her and even kissed her.

P.S. My scanner didn't do to well with these pictures. Sorry about the cloudy!

Christmas in the Square

Tonight for Family Home Evening we drove down to the Frisco Town Square to see the light show. They have the whole place decorated, and the lights are synchronized to music (that you tune into on the radio). It's really cool. We sat in the warmth of our car, talked about how Christmas lights are a reminder of the star shining in the sky when Jesus was born, and enjoyed the show. Actually, everyone except Isaac enjoyed the show. He came home from school today with a stomach bug. He threw up once around 5:00, but we thought he was feeling well enough to ride in the car and see the lights. Apparently we were wrong, because he threw up again in the car on the way home (luckily he brought a bowl with him in the car in case he got sick - so it wasn't a big mess). Poor Isaac. Maybe we'll go back again when he's feeling better. :)

By the way, the pictures I posted (from the Frisco Square website) aren't current. They planted more trees in the "square", so there were more lights this year.

Decorations

The kids always enjoy all the Christmas decorations. Pictured are two of our "new additions" this year.



Isaac and Noah requested a Santa for our yard. I bought the cheapest one I could find at Target, and they couldn't be more thrilled. Noah, especially, really loves it! He points to it and says, "there's my friend Santa". And the kids also enjoy their new 4 foot tree. We used to have a really small tree (18 inches or 2 feet or something) for them to put their own ornaments on and play with as they please, but their ornament collection had outgrown the tree. So this year, I got them an upgrade. They enjoyed decorating it, and it's fun for them to have their "own" tree. The ornaments on it are all ornaments they have received as gifts, as well as some from when I was a kid, and some soft ornaments I inherited from my mom (that she made when my older sister was a baby - to give her something to play with other than the breakable ornaments on the big tree). :) Thanks Mom!

Another Typical Attempt

Last Sunday I once again attempted to get a nice picture of Emma. She looked so pretty in her red Christmas dress. Of course, she won't sit still for ANYTHING, so it never goes quite as planned. I snapped two pictures of her while she was playing and those turned out much better than the ones I tried to take "staged" in front of the tree. When I put her near the tree, she just wanted to play with the ornaments. Noah, of course, was jealous that I was taking Emma's picture, so he had to get in on the action. :)

Dinosaurs Alive!

Isaac had no school the entire week of Thanksgiving, and David's mom was visiting from Utah. I didn't want to sit around in my house all week, so I decided that one of the days we would go to the "Dinosaurs Alive" exhibit at a nearby museum. I'd seen an advertisement for it (below), and it looked like something the kids would enjoy.



David had to work, but Isaac, Noah, Emma, Stefani, Haley, Grandma Hubbard, and I all went.

It turned out to be not quite what I expected. First off, I don't know what they mean by "Life-size", but aparently they don't mean the size the dinosaurs actually were when they were alive. I was expecting some really huge animatronic dinosaurs, and most of them weren't very impressive. I think 2 of them were actual size (because they were dinosaurs that were only 8 feet tall or something like that), but the rest were defnitely scaled down. The other thing I was completely NOT prepared for, was that Noah was totally freaked out! He fell asleep in the car on the way to the museum, and sometimes when he wakes up, he's really crabby. This was one of those times. He didn't want to see the dinosaurs, and when we forced him to see them, he was completely scared! Emma was fine until we would get close to one, and when she heard the sounds it made, she would cry, too. Haley was tired and basically hid her head and acted indifferent the entire time. The only one who actually enjoyed the dinosaurs was Isaac. He had a great time! I would also definitely say it's a better excursion for kids who can walk the trail by themselves. I was so worn out after pushing the double stroller on the hilly, rocky trail. The one redeeming feature of the outing was when the kids played in the "dinosaur dig" area. Basically it's a giant sandbox, and they got to dig for dinosaur bones. They ALL enjoyed that part, and the rest of us enjoyed sitting down watching them.



Too bad kids are so unpredictable!